The World Bank forest funds — the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) – are active in over 45 countries on developing strategies for land use change and planning at the national scale. In 14 of these countries (Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Indonesia, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, Republic of Congo, Vietnam, Zambia) large scale programs are being developed with use of these funds that will lead to results-based payments for emission reductions. The forest funds have a combined funding of $1 billion with the majority focused on developing transformational programs at scale.

Building on a decade of experience in sustainable land use, the forest funds take a landscape approach which considers the trade-offs and synergies between different land-uses that may compete in a jurisdiction—such as agriculture, energy, and forest protection—and identifies integrated solutions that serve multiple objectives. The forest funds also recognize the important role that the private sector plays in spurring innovation, leveraging cutting-edge expertise and knowledge, and mobilizing the capital necessary to scale up successful land-use practices and accelerate the greening of supply chains.

Alexander Lotsch and Marco van der Linden are Senior Carbon Finance Specialists at the World Bank Group and will discuss current technical, methodological and policy questions pertinent to the development of these large scale emission reduction programs.